Cutdown day is here. In just a few hours, the New York Jets’ initial 53-man roster will be finalized.

So much more goes into cutdown day than just making cuts. Aside from “who made the team?,” here are the top three things fans should be looking for on the Jets’ initial 53-man roster.

Injury designations

Each team gets two short-term IR spots to designate players dealing with injury. The benefit is that they remain under team control without taking up a spot on the initial 53-man roster. The player must miss four games before they are eligible to return.

There are a few players on Gang Green’s 90-man roster who could occupy those spots. The top candidates include UDFA cornerback Mory Bamba, seventh-round rookie safety VJ Payne, sixth-round rookie offensive lineman Anez Cooper and edge rusher Joseph Ossai.

Bamba suffered a knee injury, which ended his summer early, following his excellent preseason debut. Did the Jets see enough from him to warrant a short-term IR spot?

Payne missed all three of the squad’s preseason games after sustaining a bone bruise. As a late-round rookie, he appears to be a prime candidate. Also, placing him there would allow the Jets to give Malachi Moore an early-season audition before deciding on his status after a rough summer.

Cooper, also a late-round rookie, could be in line for short-term IR. He suffered a shoulder injury during the first half of the team’s preseason finale, and perhaps the Jets’ acquisition of Jordan Meredith signals that he could be in place to start the season on IR.

Joseph Ossai would be the most unfortunate candidate. Ossai began the summer on New York’s PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list and returned in time for the final preseason game.

After a solid start to the game, he had a foot issue and exited. Losing him would be detrimental to the Jets’ defensive end rotation to begin the season.

Jets fans should be locked in on which players land on IR to begin the season.

Another kicker?

After Jason Sanders’ rough preseason finale with a missed field goal and extra point attempt, head coach Aaron Glenn didn’t close the door on adding another kicker.

As we broke down, there are several options the Jets could pursue as cutdown day unfolds across the league.

It’s important to remember that Sanders is coming off a hip injury that sidelined him in 2025. He had a full year to recover, but it’s fair to wonder whether the injury is still affecting him.

While one rough preseason game shouldn’t erase his consistent eight-year career in the NFL, it remains questionable whether he should be the unconsented Week 1 kicker. Throughout training camp, he was up and down as well.

Whether they make a move will reveal how concerned Glenn and the Jets truly are about Sanders’ struggles.

How many offensive linemen?

Another interesting decision will be how many offensive linemen New York carries on their initial 53-man roster.

The verdict has already been decided on a few bubble players. Marquis Hayes, despite his strong preseason, has been waived, while veteran Xavier Newman was also let go.

Both players are practice-squad candidates, but they won’t be on the 53-man roster. That removes two potential options from the equation.

Then, there is Meredith, who was just acquired. The status of Cooper’s injury remains unknown.

That is just the interior. There are even more questions at tackle.

Max Mitchell and Chukwuma Okorafor seem to be the only two backups locked in behind Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou. It’d be odd for the Jets to carry just eight offensive linemen on the 53-man roster. That’s almost unheard of in today’s NFL. It could signal that they are planning to claim an OL on the waiver wire, even after acquiring Meredith.

The final number of offensive linemen on the 53-man roster still remains very much uncertain.